There’s a new player in the parts ordering game, and the name is ultimateoem.com.
The site, started by 22-year parts veteran Ken Sanders, is a website that will allow body shops and mechanical shops to look up OEM parts by VIN number to see which dealers closest to them have those parts in stock.
“So a shop needs a bumper for a 2014 Altima,” explained Sanders. “They will put in a VIN number, look up the part they need, find that bumper, see the part number, description and MSRP. Then, depending on how the shop wants to do it, each shop can set a preferred vendor or simply see what dealer is closest to them that has it in stock – which is really amazing because there is nothing out there like that.”
Sanders wanted to create a parts ordering platform that took what all the other competing platforms individually were doing and combine it all into one. Another unique thing about the site is that it’s for body shops and mechanical shops.
Sanders is making a blitz to sign up dealers before his November 2019 launch by offering a pre-sale price of $249 a month versus the regular fee of $499 if dealers sign up and pre-pay for a one-year subscription. The site will be free to body shops and mechanical shops. Also, it is not an e-commerce site. There will be no fee per transaction, and shops will pay dealers for parts through their normal channels.
“I want to take the 16,802 dealers in America and sign them all up,” Sanders said. “It sounds like craziness but it’s going to happen. I’ve made great headway so far and talked to top CEOs and top dealer groups, and they’re having a blast and loving it.”